Sen. Dick Lugar (R., Ind.) says he opposes H.R. 1, the House Republican spending plan to cut spending by $61 billion over seven months. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this week. From The Hill:
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the most senior member of the Senate Republican Conference, said Tuesday he will oppose the House-passed proposal to make drastic cuts to the federal budget.
He is the first Senate Republican to publicly state his opposition to a plan that Democrats have blasted as “reckless.”
Lugar, who is facing a Tea Party-backed challenge in the 2012 Indiana Republican primary, is taking a political risk. But he and other centrist Republicans have concerns about steep spending cuts that will eliminate funding for some federal programs in mid-year.
Lugar declined to state his reasons for opposing the bill as he entered a weekly lunch meeting with his Republican colleagues in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room on the second floor of the Capitol.
“I’m opposed to it,” Lugar said.
More here.
Is Dick Lugar too liberal? Katrina looks into it here.
UPDATE: Lugar promptly reconsiders. He’ll vote for H.R. 1 after all. As will every Republican, apparently (emphasis mine):
Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), who faces a Tea Party-backed challenge in his 2012 primary, has withdrawn his stated opposition to House-passed spending cuts.
Lugar said Tuesday afternoon that he made a mistake when he told reporters earlier in the day that he would oppose H.R. 1, the House GOP plan to cut an additional $57 billion from the 2011 budget.
“I’m going to vote with the Republicans on the issue when H.R. 1 comes up,” Lugar said. “If it’s strictly an affirmative vote, I will be for H.R. 1 because all the Republicans will be voting for H.R. 1.”
More here.
Or, Lugar just gave his resignation speech a little earlier than most expected.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePrecisely: Lugar knows Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock ("the other Dick") will be mounting a formidable primary challenge next year.
If Lugar was smart and classy, he'd admit to himself that he's had a good run and then announce his retirement. But I guess that's asking too much, huh?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Drastic cuts"?
All I've seen is something on the order of 60-100 billion, a rounding error compared to spending. That Lugar (or anyone) finds this amount "drastic" simply proves he's completely clueless.
Yes, "his resignation speech", perfect.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseA true Hoosier RINO, unlike our Governor.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat's okay - as a resident of Indiana - I am opposed to him remaining a senator.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHe continus to give us plenty of red meat.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat a surprise. One of the more entrenched hogs doesn't want to lose his his access to the Congressional trough -- which we and our descendants, of course, pay for.
It must be easy to ignore the financial peril our nation faces if you're one of those who will be among the last to feel the effects.
Liberal, conservative, doesn't matter. Access to that (supposedly) unlimited checkbook seems to make unprincipled greedheads out of everyone.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Lugar declined to state his reasons for opposing the bill..."
Probably because they are his conscience.
Let Indiana vote theirs.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGood day to you sir, and may your days remaining in the senate be few.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"But he and other centrist Republicans have concerns about steep spending cuts that will eliminate funding for some federal programs in mid-year."
Steep, my posterior.
The sentence sounds ridiculous if they use a more accurate description of the cuts -- that they are NEGLIGIBLE spending cuts, roughly two weeks' worth of deficit spending.
If that's steep, we're dead.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOne more reason to add to my list of reasons I won't be voting for Richard Lugar in 2012. It's amazing how many years he, McCain and other "go along to get along" Republicans flew under the conservative radar.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMr. Lugar,
What part of WE ARE [bleep]ING BROKE do you not understand?
The mortgage is behind. The credit cards are maxed. None of our rich uncles will take our calls anymore.
What kind of altered reality do you live within? How about "going along to get along" with the people that actually have the guts to address the problem, for once?
The only upside is that you're not on the long list of delusional RINOs that think that they have a shot at POTUS.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHe's been in Washington waaaay too long.
Another poster-boy for term limits.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'll never forget when Dick Lugar ran for President in 1996 or 2000 (I can't remember which). I saw coverage of his campaign on C-SPAN where he went from house to house in northern New Hampshire saying, "Hi! I'm Dick Lugar."
That's about the time when he lost any chance of winning their votes! The priceless feature of the footage was the look of utter disbelief on the faces of the blue-haired ladies to whom he introduced himself, like he just told them a really tasteless off-color joke.
You'd think NH would have been used to it by then! After all, for years they had a state-wide Congressman for their at-large congressional district named Dick Sweat.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFor too long the GOP believed a sure-thing incumbent to be off limits to a primary challenge, and if such a challenge arose anyway (i.e. Specter/Toomey) the establishment would rally around their buddy and the voters would debate and cringe whether they should 'risk' the seat with a conservative challenge. We saw this in Delaware just last year.
I no longer believe a RINO is better than a Democrat - even in blue states. Let the Democrats own 100% of the garbage, and let the Republican party stand as a true alternative to their madness, and not a distinction without a difference.
If not, the GOP will implode and there will be a true alternative party centered around the Tea Party.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAfter reading his comments on HR 1, I ask Do you see why he needs to retire? Too old and too entrenched in DC.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseInteresting contrast between the two GOP senators considered most vulnerable to primary challenges. Hatch is going all out to persuade people he's really conservative, Lugar seems determined to prove that he isn't. Good thing we have a terrific candidate in Richard Mourdock to take him on.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLugar probably will run as an "independent" after he loses the GOP nomination. Don't know how that will go in a presidential election year. I don't think Obama can win Indiana again, but Lugar might be able to pull a Murkowski.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAccording to the Hill, Lugar nows says he will support HR1,
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This is one more piece of evidence that our fiscal house will not be put in order by members of the baby boom generation, or their parents. That should surprise no one, as the boomers are the most petulantly selfish group in history, and their parents are the ones who raised them that way. In the 60s, we were admonished to never trust anyone over 35 years old. By the time we actually get serious about the debt problem, we'll have to add 15 years and reverse the polarity.
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